Smile for Me
by EE's Skysong
Summary: Based on the season finale promo. Katara finds herself unable to hate Zuko. 'I nodded, managing a half smile. I couldn't smile at him all the way yet, but he needed the encouragement. I still didn't like him, but now I was seeing I could.' Friendship fic


Disclaimer: "She doesn't even know my name, and even if she did, she'd despise me. She's the coolest girl in school, and everyone worships her because she's heaven."

(An: Before you ask, let me repeat: this is a Zutara _friendship_ fic. Zutara is all very well and good, but if they hook up after one "meaningful" conversation, I may shoot myself... this just picks up with the promo because I'm too lazy to think of a good reason for them to get into this conversation.)

"The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." I buried my face in my knees and started to sob.

"That's one thing we have in common," said Zuko quietly. He got up and sat down beside me. I ignored him and wished he would go away. If he was going to try and console me, I was going to kill him. Just _murder_ him. He had caused me untold grief in the past months, and nothing he could say or do could ever make up for that.

But he didn't. He just sat there and waited for my tears to dry up. Which they finally did, after what seemed like an eternity. I was wrung out- stuck in a cave with my worst enemy, knowing that Ba Sing Se was in danger and unable to do anything about it.

"Here." I looked up. He fished around in his shirt and produced a handkerchief from somewhere. He shoved it at me, his eyes averted.

"Why-"

"I was sick, ok?" His voice was halfway to a growl. I realized he was just as mad at the world as me, and I took the handkerchief. His expression was gruff, like his voice, but it had some sympathy.

I wiped my eyes and offered him it back. "Keep it." I was about to say something rude that I didn't really mean- probably about him being unable to use it because a _peasant_ like me had soiled it- but he had wised up a little. He held up his hands. "I've got too many of them anyway." He took out three more. "My uncle had a bunch of monogrammed ones made when we got the new tea shop."

I looked at the handkerchief. It was the standard Earth Kingdom green-brown. "The Tea Weevil?" I read, raising an eyebrow.

Zuko blinked. "That one's old," he replied, handing me a different one. It was a prettier green, more like the color of the phosphorescent rocks around us.

"The Jasmine Dragon?"

Now he nodded, propping his chin on his fist. I rested my head on my knees again, closing my eyes. Neither of us said anything for a long time. I was surprised when Zuko said, "You probably think I'm a heartless jerk." His voice was quiet and sad. I opened one eye. He had turned his back to me and was studying the roof of the cave. "I guess I must be. I wouldn't know. I've never been any other way. My uncle says that it's never too late to change, though."

"He's right." He looked over his shoulder at me, and I was surprised to find I was empathizing with him. This wasn't the cold, untouchable prince who had taken my mother's necklace and thought only of capturing Aang. This boy was a totally different animal, a young man who had looked around and realized he had no idea who he was or what he was doing with his life. And I understood that, in a way. It was how I had felt when I met Aang. I thought I was happy taking care of the tribe, but Aang had shown me I wasn't.

It had probably been his uncle who had inspired a change in Zuko. It was clear he still had no hand with women, so Iroh was probably the only one close enough to him to hit home.

Zuko was two or three years older than me, but he still managed to look like a child as he asked, "You really think so?"

I nodded, managing a half-smile. I couldn't smile at him all the way, not yet, but he needed the encouragement. I still didn't like him, but now I was seeing that I could. Maybe even soon.

Zuko picked up a pebble and flicked it over his fingers, this way and that, looking at the ground instead of me. "A while ago, my uncle said I was at a turning point, and that I made the right choice. But I regretted it. It was different."

"Change is hard," I agreed. It wasn't just an empty sentiment; I knew the truth of those words right down to my bones now. Most of me was accepting of the way Zuko had changed, but part of me still wanted to hate him because it would have been easier.

Zuko nodded. Then he made a face and dropped the pebble, his hand going to his scar. "It's raining," he commented, his voice _very_ dry.

"It never really healed, did it?" My concern wasn't the vague, "I'm stuck with him, and he's actually kind of interesting" thing it had been before; now it was purely clinical.

He shook his head, massaging it gingerly. "My father wouldn't let anyone treat me. He said that I had to prove I had the righ to live. The burn got infected, but I was just too stubborn to die. That's what my uncle said, anyway."

His comment brought back the half-smile. "Here, let me see." I walked over and knelt by him, gently moving his hand. I inspected it without quite touching it. He watched impassively as I pulled my amulet out from under my shirt. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole," I explained. I didn't think he was really curious, but people tended to be calmer when they were distracted during a healing.

"And you gave me a weird look for carrying handkerchiefs?"

"Do you honestly think I'd ever let this out of my sight? It's the most precious thing I own."

"Except that necklace," Zuko whispered. I looked at him sharply, but his eyes were in the distance.

"Well, yes," I agreed, my voice just as quiet, "but that's no business of yours."

He shook his head, and I resisted the urge to smack him, like I would Aang if he moved during an inspection. "I don't have anything of my mother's."

"What happened to her?" His eyes met mine, and for once, there was no anger in them, just a sadness similar to what I sometimes saw in Sokka's eyes, the sadness of a boy who missed his mother. And, in spite of myself, I smiled at him. At heart, Zuko wasn't bad, he was just lost. He had thought the Avatar would give him purpouse, but now he knew it was the wrong one, and he was confused.

He just shook his head again.

"I understand... now hold still."The water in the amulet was just a trickle, really, but I knew by how bright it was glowing that it would be enough. I held it over Zuko's scar. The glow was almost blinding for a moment, and then it faded.

Zuko blinked, and I realized I was gaping. "What?"

I tried to think of how to explain. Then I just froze the water and flattened it, forming a mirror. Zuko's eyes widened. The only hint that he had ever had a scar was a faint pinkness to his skin and a lack of a left eyebrow.

"Don't ask me how that worked."

Zuko shook his head slowly, an expression of utter disbelief spreading over his face. This time, he smiled at me as he murmured, "Thank you."

(Again, before you ask, I'm on the fence with Zutara and Kataang. A little cuteness never hurt anyone, though. Edit: Changed a dumb error pointed out to me by Liselle129 and added italics. Review!) 


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